Woman spends $164K to live ‘fairy-tale’ life on a cruise ship

In the world of cruise travel, there are those who love it, and those who can’t imagine why anyone would pay to be trapped on a giant boat. And then there’s Lee Wachtstetter of Florida, who actually lives aboard a cruise ship.

Yep, Wachtstetter has made a luxury, 1,070-passenger cruise ship her home for the past seven years. The Crystal Serenity is where she eats, sleeps, socializes, and sees the world, of course. Although after visiting over a 100 countries, Wachtstetter, who goes by Mama Lee, rarely disembarks these days.

Mama Lee is far more concerned with the on-board entertainment, namely the dancing. The 86 year old spends two hours a night on the dance floor.

According to the Ashbury Park Press, “[Wachtstetter] estimates living the good life on the Serenity this year will cost her $164,000. That’ll cover costs of her single-occupancy seventh deck stateroom, regular and specialty restaurant meals with available lunch and dinner beverages, gratuities, nightly ballroom dancing with dance hosts and Broadway-caliber entertainment — as well as the captain’s frequent cocktail parties, movies, lectures, plus other scheduled daily activities.”

So why would Wachtstetter sell her house and leave the mainland and her family behind in favor of a $164K-a-year cruise lifestyle? In her own words: “The day before my husband died of cancer in 1997, he told me, ‘Don’t stop cruising.’ So here I am today living a stress-free, fairy-tale life.”